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DIARY 



Spring Holiday 



IN 



CUBA 



e.Vl 5 




PHI LA DEL PHI A : 

PORTER $> CO ATE S. 

1872. 



I 









SHERMAN & CO., PRINTERS. 



TO 

THOSE WHO WILL BE, FOR MY SAKE, 

ITS MOST INTERESTED READERS, 

iiltj &ge& parents, 

THIS SIMPLE RECORD OF TROPICAL WANDERING 

IS AFFECTIONATELY 

INSCRIBED. 



DIARY 



Spring Holiday in Cuba. 



Steamship Juniata, 

At Sea off the Capes of Delaware Bay, 

Saturday Evening, Feb. 24th, 1872. 

Bound for a land of perpetual summer, we take 
a farewell backward look at the dark and frown- 
ing sky of winter. A cold gray mist blurs the 
outline of the ice-bound shores, where the black 
gulls of winter flap their broad wings over the 
surf. A chill north wind blows, but it only 
hastens us southward toward sunlit seas and 
radiant skies. The last glimpse of the dim shore 
of homeland fades away, and our thoughts turn, 
as the prow of the vessel points, to the warm 
and genial South 



b DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

Sunday, February 25th. — Sailors have a tra- 
ditional saying, that there is "no Sunday be- 
yond five fathoms soundings," and it is appa- 
rent that the day has no formal characteristic 
at sea. 

The wind is light, and the waves give us but a 
gentle swaying motion ; yet it is enough to keep 
our fellow-passengers in their state-rooms, on ac- 
count of sea-sickness. So the day passes quietly 
awa} T , while we gradually become accustomed to 
the new surroundings of sight, sound, and mo- 
tion ; the deep respiration of the steam-exhaust, 
the pulsating throbs and heavy strokes of the 
engine, sending a tremor through the frame of 
this great sea monster ; the solemn tone of the 
ship's bell, repeated every half hour ; and, to us, 
a bell, increasing hourly in attractions, which 
calls us to the well-spread cabin table. The sea 
continues so quiet that there would seem to be 
no cause for sea-sickness, but the captain states 
that the ailment is much under the influence 
of the imagination, as passengers often repeat 
the inquiry as to whether we are " outside yet," 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 7 

and on being answered in the affirmative, retire 
to their state-rooms and go through the for- 
malities. 

Yet there must be a miserable reality in sea- 
sickness, which requires great resignation to bear 
it patiently. A gentleman, whose histrionic fame 
is known to every one, being at sea and suffering 
from sea-sickness, which he bore with extreme 
impatience, a fellow-passenger strove to console 
him with the example of other and more resigned 
sufferers, and even alluded to the Saviour's being 
at sea in a tempest. The petulant invalid re- 
plied: "That is so; but, if my memory is not at 
fault, he got out and walked! and I cannot do 
that." 

This starting out to sea reminds me of my only 
previous experience, in a time long ago, when 
with feelings different indeed I first saw the 
ocean's expanse. I recall vividly, but with a 
shade of sadness, an affectionate parting on start- 
ing off, youthful, buoyant, and careless. Then 
life seemed an endless morning, and the vista an 
unlimited horizon. The present vo3^aging seems 



8 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

as but a mid-day rest in a toilsome way ; or, per- 
haps, with the day, it may be, far spent, when I 
should be looking trustingly forward as being 

" Nearer to the wayside inn, 
Where toil shall cease and rest begin." 

Of one of that little home-circle there is nothing 
left but her memory; the snow of this parting 
winter is melting on the marble that encloses her, 
and the slanting rays of a glowing winter sunset 
are smiling over her repose. 

Tuesday, February 2~th. — If the " three wise 
men of Gotham," of infantile literature, who 
" went to sea in a bowl," had chosen this aus- 
picious time their story would have been longer. 
The sea continues as the quiet surface of a mill- 
pond ; even the traditional stormy locality of 
u off Cape Hatteras," is passed without wind or 
waves. The sun shines warmly, the sky is a deep 
blue, and the air is like the balmy breath of June. 
This transition from the cheerless breaking up 
of winter, from fields of floating ice to the drift- 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 9 

ing seaweeds of the warm waters of the Gulf 
Stream, is exceedingly grateful. 

Thursday, February 29th. — The sea has still 
an unruffled surface, and evidences of the trop- 
ical change are increasing ; the sun comes up red 
from its hot-bath in the gulf waters, and glows in 
a cloudless sky until it dips again in the crimson 
west. 

There is a tranquilizing influence in this warm 
sea air of the South, which tends to mental re- 
pose and an idle and dream} 7 existence. It is 
occupation enough to lie on deck and gaze on the 
blue expanse ; to watch the heavy flight of the 
pelicans, the wayward flapping of the gulls, the 
antics of the flying-fish, or the wind-borne fleets 
of nautilus. 

The vessel has been since yesterday morning- 
running along the coast of Florida, near enough 
to discern persons, if any existed on that barren 
strand ; but with the exception of several lonely 
light-houses, and, in the evening, some Indian 
camp-fires, no signs of human life were seen. 

Some wrecked vessels loom up as ghostly warn- 



10 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

ings on the beach, where their skeletons will long 
bleach in the sun and spray ; and we but recently 
passed the spot where the very steamship we are 
on was cast, a helpless waif, in the great hurricane 
of last August. The vessel, while endeavoring 
with all the power of steam to keep away from the 
shore, head to the wind, was hurled backward and 
struck the sand ; when to save life she was headed 
directly for the strand, and went flying before 
the blast up among the trees on the beach. No 
damage was sustained, and in a few days she was 
again on her way. 

We have a winged visitor from the ever- 
glades of Florida. A little weary wanderer, with 
bright yellow and brown plumage, has found 
rest on the vessel, and is cared for in the pilot- 
house, to be set at liberty when we reach the 
harbor. 

Friday, March 1st. — It was announced last 
evening that the light-house on Morro Castle 
would soon be in sight, but as no vessel is per- 
mitted to enter the harbor after the firing of the 
gun at sunset, or before the gun at sunrise, the 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 11 

ship steamed slowly onward, so as not to be too 
early at the entrance of the harbor. 

At daybreak a black and threatening horizon, 
with gusty squalls, hid the island from view ; but 
as it gradually broke away, the distant mountains 
came in sight, and the bright sunlight soon dis- 
played the promised land — the land of the cocoa 
and the palm, of my childhood's dreams of tropic 
fruits and gorgeous flowers, of waving cane-fields, 
burning suns, and toiling slaves ! 

A signal sent to the top of the flagstaff on 
Morro Castle announced our arrival in Havana, 
and we passed through the very narrow entrance 
of the harbor, almost under the guns, and within 
talking distance of the sentinel in white and 
red, and burnished trappings, who paced the par- 
apet. The castle has a most grand and romantic 
appearance, overhanging the sea at a great emi- 
nence, its high walls crested by rows of cannon, 
surmounted at one angle by a towering light- 
house ; its base washed by the warm waters of 
the Gulf Stream, and lashed by its foaming surf. 
It impressed me more, however, with the idea of 



12 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

romance than of power, and it seemed that its 
chalky stone could soon be made to crumble 
under modern projectiles, and its guns be tumbled 
into the sea. In addition to the Morro, there are 
several other fortifications, which, although not 
so picturesque, are probably of greater strength ; 
and the harbor, on account of its narrow en- 
trance, with high surrounding hills, must be nat- 
urally one of the most readily defensible in the 
world. 

The city, until this moment partially hidden 
from view by the castle and hills at the harbor's 
entrance, now spread suddenly out, its light-col- 
ored buildings of yellow and blue tints dazzling 
in the morning sun. The harbor was filled with 
vessels, not at wharves, but dispersed at their 
anchorages, including war ships of every mari- 
time nation, decked with their national flags ; 
and more conspicuous than all others, the Rus- 
sian fleet, which had just arrived with the Grand 
Duke, on his visit to the island. 

As we came along the harbor, a curious scene, 
which may be witnessed every day, was that of 



i 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 13 

a hundred or more horses from the city, led 
into the water in droves by their drivers, taking 
a morning bath in the surf. The surrounding 
country seemed rather bare of foliage but clothed 
in deep green, and that most prominent of all 
tropical characteristics, the royal palm tree, with 
its long, straight, and bare trunk stretching high 
in the air, its feathery top waving in the wind, 
was in every direction seen. 

In addition to the varied novelties of sight, 
were those of sound ; for a most extraordinary 
ringing of bells resounded from the city, as if it 
were some hour of jubilee, but I was informed 
that all this wrangle and jangle was only the 
calling of the devout to their matins. The 
sounds were neither musical nor inspiring, no 
deep-toned resonance, but a most discordant 
twanging, as if of hundreds of colossal cow-bells 
in towers and steeples. 

The harbor was alive with little, active, light- 
colored boats, with a framework and awning- 
stretched over the stern portion, like a wagon- 
cover, to protect from the sun. From one of these 



14 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

a pilot came on board, and conducted the vessel 
to her moorings ; from others came the custom- 
house officials ; and in one was seen by us the 
welcome sight of the kind face of a friend who, 
anticipating our arrival, had come out to greet us 
and guide our way through the formalities prior 
to landing. We gathered ourselves and baggage 
into one of these boats, and proceeded to the 
custom-house, where the trunks were unlocked 
in anticipation of a great overturning and scru- 
tinizing search of their contents ; but we must 
have been honored in the breach of this custom, 
for the official merely poked his long and spec- 
tacled nose under the trunk lids, as if to smell 
rather than to see, and placing a chalk-mark on 
them, which in our vernacular would, I suppose, 
be written " O K," the trunks were passed out. 

Then came our funny experience of the place ; 
the strange-looking jail-like houses, with barred 
windows without sash or glass ; the large heavily- 
ironed doors ; the narrow and crowded streets with- 
out sidewalks, and the motley crowds of varied 
dress, complexion, and nationality, who jabbered, 



DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 15 

jostled, laughed, and quarreled in their way. 
The oddity of vehicles is the most striking of all 
things to a stranger, including the awkward and 




VOLANTE DRIVER, 

ungainly volante, with one horse in the long 
shafts, and another in traces alongside, mounted 
by a negro in gaudy trappings, red jacket, 
leather leggings, slippers, and enormous spurs. 

Our destination was the San Carlos, or the 
Hotel Telegrafo, but no accommodations could be 
found in them, and we were quartered in the Hotel 
de Santa Isabel, a house which looks as if it were 
some decayed palace of royalty. Here are tiled 



16 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

and marble floors throughout, above and below ; 
porcelain wainscots highly ornamented ; — all this 
grandeur, mingled with the utmost confusion of 
broken furniture, baggage, scattered fruits and 
vegetables ; some doves flying in and out ; un- 




HOTEL SANTA ISABEL. 

pleasant odors of kitchen and cookery, all redo- 
lent of garlic; and other evidences of disorder, 
and, to us, of discomfort. We sat down in our 
curious room, overlooking on one side a court- 
yard, where a dried-up fountain remained as an 



* 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 17 

ornament, the other window giving a view over 
the bay; when our friend, who had so kindly 
met us, loaded the table with a fragrant heap of 
oranges and bananas, which were enjoj^ed as 
tropical fruits can only be appreciated in perfec- 
tion, in the land of their production. 

After visiting a money changer, and turning 
some of our national currency into Spanish gold, 
I rode about the streets in a volante, observing 
the curiosities of people an.d architecture, and 
visited a restaurant to taste the peculiar forms of 
refreshments. 

The private houses look like castles for defence, 
and the style of building has probably continued 
from olden times, when it was essential that each 
dwelling-house should be defensible from the In- 
dians, and more especially from pirates, who have 
often pillaged the towns on the coast. 

The floors are all either stone or tile, the walls 
are immensely thick, and the stone partitions of 
the separate apartments continue up higher than 
the roof, so that the space above it is divided into 
distinct pens three or four feet high ; thus a 
2* 



18 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

series of battlement-walls, well suited for defence, 
exists on every house. There are no yards or 
gardens as we construct in our homes, but within 
the area of the house is a court-yard, open to the 
air and sun above, into which doors, and barred, 
ungiazed windows, open from all the rooms. It 
is curious to see the volante, or other form of 
family carriage, driven apparently into the parlor 
or entry, and there remain as if it were a part of 
the parlor furniture ; thus, on entering a hand- 
some private residence, the first object seen is 
the volante, with its polished and showy silver or 
gold mountings, standing there an object of or- 
nament and family pride. I saw no ladies to-day 
in the streets, but as I passed the barred win- 
dows, a view of the inner life of the Cuban family 
was readily obtained, for the windows reach the 
ground, and being without glass, the temptation 
to look in at the ladies was, of course, irresisti- 
ble ; and, when dressed for display, they present 
themselves for this kind of observation. 

On returning to the hotel, our courteous friend 
proposed that we should accompany him to Ma- 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 21 

tanzas, his place of residence ; and being desirous 
of having at once a rural view of the tropics, 
the proposal was gladly acceded to ; and this 
decision was the more prompt after having been 
introduced to an American gentleman at the 
hotel, whose countenance resembled a skull with 
lemon-colored parchment drawn over it, and who 
was being congratulated by his friends on his re- 
covery from yellow fever ! 

So we bade farewell to Santa Isabel, gath- 
ered ourselves into vehicles drawn by emaciated 
ponies, who were lashed and spurred, as is the 
custom, until the ferry to the railway station was 
reached. 

A steam ferry-boat, like those of the North, 
crossed the bay to Regla, whence a railway train, 
of American style, soon started for Matanzas, 
going at very great speed. 

The country was for some distance barren and 
rocky, and, with the exception of the peculiar 
tropical vegetation, did not differ from our north- 
ern waste lands. As the journey proceeded, the 
country became more attractive ; verdant and 



22 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

waving cane-fields bordered the road, large tracts 
of banana plants, weighed down by their heavy 
branches of the fruit, and groves of orange trees 
were on every side ; and above all and ever in 
sight was the tall and graceful royal palm, with 
its straight light-colored trunk, surmounted by 
its waving tuft of fern-like leaves, the most beau- 
tiful of nature's forest productions. 

The country is evidently rendered bare b^y the 
destruction of the forests for fuel, but the gor- 
geous palm is alone spared in the devastation, 
and remains an object of ornament and utility, 
so that it is seen cresting every hill-top, and in 
groves on the plains. 

Before reaching Matanzas, its surrounding 
mountains, which are familiar landmarks from 
far out on the ocean, were seen, and soon we 
were among the variegated blue and yellow build- 
ings of the environs of the city. 

Located at the Hotel Leon de Oro, the singu- 
larities of Cuban life become the subject of ob- 
servation ; and on entering we are impressed at 
once with the savors of cookery, including, of 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 23 

course, the prominent flavor of garlic ; for the 
culinary arrangements are immediately under our 
eyes, and, unfortunately, under our nose also. 
The dinner was soon served, made up of varied 
familiar articles disguised into strangeness, and 
some unfamiliar ones in which tasting could not 
solve the problem, and which would have needed 
the services of an interpreter for comprehension ; 
but it finished off, as is the cutsom, with the odd 
combination of guava jelly and strong cheese, 
and an abundance of fruits. 

Our room holds two beds conveniently, and 
has the invariable tiled floor, and the ceiling is at 
a great elevation, probably nearly thirty feet ; but 
the beds, so called, are merely sacking-bottoms 
stretched at great tension, and resemble in every 
respect the head of a drum. Such is a Cuban 
bed for all of high or low degree, and it may do 
for those whose bones and integument are not 
too near together, but as only the salient points 
of the body can touch it, the arrangement seems 
more calculated for the production of aching 
backs and bed-sores, than for repose. The pil- 



24 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

lows are very small, inelastic, and sodden, as if 
filled with dough. 

Sunday, March 3d. — Matanzas differs from 
Havana in being much smaller, but has the same 
characteristics of narrow streets, massive low 
stone houses, and retains even more of the 
ancient Moorish peculiarities. 

Like other Spanish cities it has its grand 
plaza, where the higher classes throng in the 
evenings to see and to be seen, and to listen to 
the music of the military bands, the ladies sitting 
languidly in their volantes, while the gentlemen 
promenade about the walks, saluting them in 
the complimentary and fulsome fashion of the 
country. 

I have been expecting to see the population 
with their faces tinged with the livery of the 
burning sun, but have been impressed with the 
pallid and anaemic countenances of most of the 
people, particularly the ladies, and the men of the 
higher classes. Our own party really look, ac- 
cording to my ideal, more Spanish than the 
Spaniards. None but the laboring people expose 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. Z'O 

themselves to the sun's rays, and there is preva- 
lent a most indolent aversion to bodily exercise ; 
and the ladies flit out only in a moth-like exist- 
ence when the shades of evening veil them. No 
ruddy cheeks are seen, no lithe forms and brisk 
tripping feet patter on the pavements as in the 
North; but the Cuban belle, with her dark lan- 
guishing eyes, placid, dignified countenance, pro- 
fuse black hair, and dressed in some lace-like 
tissue, ventures out only in her volante, and re- 
clines languidly on her cushions for the evening- 
drive on the paseo or plaza. 

There are man}^ showy stores, at least in their 
inside display, for the goods are not arranged in 
windows, which are merely heavily barred grat- 
ings without glass ; and the fronts of even the 
best stores have a most forbidding appearance, 
They are invariably attended by males, and the 
same sex seem to be almost the exclusive vis- 
itors, When the ladies go out to do their shop- 
ping it is in their volantes, which they do not 
leave to enter the stores, but the goods are 
brought out and displayed to them by the very 



26 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

attentive and polite clerks. Some of the stores 
are distinguished b} 7 remarkable appellations as- 
sumed for them by their proprietors, and painted 
on signs, many of which are singular for their 
oddity and inappropriateness. Thus the titles of 
a few of the quaintest when translated are : My 
Recreation ; My Pleasure, Sweet Name of Jesus ; 
Son of the Town ; Poor Devil ; Rich Devil ; and 
others are called the Green Cross ; Hope ; Ori- 
ental; Norma, etc. Funny attempts at trans- 
lating are noticeable on store signs, to make the 
business comprehensible to foreigners; such an 
one is, "Joni sel her," which intends to say, 
"Honey sold here!" 

It is curious to observe the manner in which 
the daily supply of vegetables and market com- 
modities comes into the city, all on the backs of 
horses and mules, whose bodies are often almost 
entirely hidden under their bulky loads of packs 
and panniers, This is particularly so with the 
animals laden with almost a stack of green corn- 
fodder, when only the nose can be seen project- 
ing from the moving mass, and only the clatter 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 27 

of hoofs heard beneath. Trains of burdened 
mules and horses come into the town in long 
processions, single file, being kept in line by 
each one's head being tied to the tail of the one 
in front of him. 

There is heard here the same unmelodious ring- 
ing of bells which saluted us on disembarkation ; 
it is the same tin-pan sound, commencing at day- 
break, and reiterated at intervals until the vesper 
hour relieves us of the nois}^ jargon. Notwith- 
standing all this noisy summoning, on visiting the 
ancient cathedral at the hour of evening prayers, 
I found but three persons in the sombre and dimly 
lighted hall, kneeling devoutly and in silence be- 
fore the crucifixes. 

As the visit of the Russian prince is expected 
for to-morrow, preparations are being made to 
receive him, including the putting in order of some 
streets through which he will pass, and for this 
purpose the chain-gang, composed of convicted 
criminals, chained in pairs by the waist and by one 
leg, is actively at work under the control of an 
armed guard. 



28 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

I have returned this evening from a most in- 
teresting sailing expedition down the bay of Ma- 
tanzas and up the Canimar River. The water of 
the bay is of a bright blue color, such as we see in 
Italian marine pictures, excepting in the shoaler 
places, where an emerald green blends beautifully 
with it. A stiff breeze was blowing, and the 
mouth of the river was soon reached, passing a 
little fort mounting two guns, located at the en- 
trance of the channel, and formerly used to keep 
slave-traders from harboring there. The river is 
narrow but deep, and its scenery is of the most 
rugged and romantic character. Its rocky sides 
are higher, and more broken and precipitous than 
those of the Wissahickon, and are clad with the 
gorgeous and enormous tropical vegetation. The 
tall royal palms majestically top off the rocky 
crests, and smaller varieties of the palm, and the 
fan-leaved palmettos, spring forth wherever they 
can get a lodgment for their roots in the rocks. 

A remarkable and beautiful effect is produced 
by the orchids, and other varieties of air plants 
which are conspicuous on every large tree. Some 



DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 29 

trees are conspicuous only by the orchids which 
fasten on them at every bifurcation of branches, 
and large, entirely dead trees are in appearance 
resurrected to vernal life by the enormous growth 
of these parasites. The night-blooming cereus is 
ever in sight, and the maguey or century plant is 
now in its gorgeous bloom of reddish-yellow, at 
the top of stems sometimes twenty feet high, 
with masses of flowers, one to two feet or more in 
diameter. 

The rugged rocky cliffs which border the 
stream are evidently upheavals of coral and shell 
formations, and are even at their tops composed 
of marine fossils. They have an eroded or water- 
worn appearance, and large caverns exist in 
them, which in their dark recesses have for ages 
been the homes of vast numbers of bats. The 
floors of these caves are deeply covered with a 
guano-like material, deposited by the bats, and in 
one localit}^ it was attempted to make a commer- 
cial article of it, but it is said without success. 
I saw no evidence of stratification of the rocks, 

excepting at the mouth of the river. 

3* 



30 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

Tracts of bamboo on small, low, or level places, 
and many plants of exuberant tropical growth, 
but unknown to me, varied the vegetation on the 
banks. The only birds I saw were pelicans and 
herons, and some varieties of small birds with 
brilliant yellow and black plumage. An interest- 
ing visit was made to a country store, at a rope 
ferry across the river, where the people, Sunday 
as it was, were gathered for purchases, and for 
drinking spirits. The store was filled with the 
varied commodities required by this peculiar com- 
munity, and among those in demand was what I 
at first thought to be sole-leather, but it proved to 
be meat, salted and dried in the sun, called jerked 
beef, and which is the only form that meat 
usually reaches the laborers. On returning at 
night a chilling north wind was blowing, and, 
weary with the day's excitement and exertion, 
with appetites sharpened, we returned to our — 
garlic, and found as much repose as could be 
obtained on our drum-head couches. 

Tuesday, March bth. — Last evening we visited 
socially by invitation the residence of a friend, and 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 



31 



had the pleasure of meeting a gathering of Cuban 
ladies and gentlemen, some of whom could speak 
our language. The residence is a fair specimen 
of the general style of dwellings of the refined 
classes, of one story, the roof being high but 
flat, and covered with tiles. The windows reach 




CUBAN DOOR. 



almost from the floor to the ceiling, and have the 
invariable jail-like iron grating instead of glazed 
sashes. The front door is as heavy and strong as 
that of a prison, and is ornamented with heavy 



32 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

metallic castings, and has great locks and bolts. 
The family carriage is driven through this door, 
and when not in use, remains in the hall, within 
observation from the principal rooms. 

The rocking-chair is a feature in the Cuban 
parlor, and the other chairs are formed for loung- 
ing and repose. Rocking-chairs are arranged 
facing each other in rows, and the company sit 
in these formal lines, but in quite social prox- 
imity. 

Refreshments in the form of chocolate, coffee, 
and cakes, were served during the evening, and 
were agreeable. 

The remarkable subterranean caves of Bellamar 
are in the neighborhood of Matanzas, and were 
the subject of an interesting visit this morning. 
Volantes were ordered, and we went off at a dash- 
ing pace along the side of the bay, the blue and 
emerald waters glittering in the morning sun; 
and when we arose to some elevation, overlooking 
the water, the transparency was apparent, show- 
ing the white, shelly bottom at considerable 
depth. On this ride was first demonstrated to 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 33 

me the real and essential merits of the volante, 
with its enormous wheels and long springing 
shafts. The road was rocky, with deep ruts and 
steep hills, yet the vehicle, with its two horses, 
one in the shafts and another in traces, mounted 
by the driver, went springing and swaying along 
over obstructions that would have wrecked an 
ordinary carriage. 

The entrance of the cave is a perpendicular 
opening on level but elevated ground, overlooking 
the bay and ocean. On alighting from the vo- 
lante, one of the drivers climbed a cocoanut-palm 
tree, and threw down some of the nuts, from 
which we were refreshed by cool draughts of the 
water contained in them. A portion of the green 
covering of the nut is cut off, and a pint or 
more of water, with the peculiar flavor of the 
nut, is a ready and agreeable drink. 

Before entering the cave, it was essential to 
remove superfluous clothing, as the air within is 
very warm and damp. Descending a flight of 
steps, a hall of splendor was seen, of pure 
whiteness, overhung with drooping stalactites, 



34 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

all glittering, their crystalline surfaces reflect- 
ing the light from two wax candles, which we 
followed through the intricate and dark pas- 
sages. The interior varied from narrow and low- 
roofed paths to lofty chambers, everywhere lined 
with dazzling white crystals in gothic arches, 
arborescent hangings, and other fantastic forms. 

Some pools of clear water, and deep, danger- 
ous-looking chasms were seen. We wandered 
through this labyrinth for a mile and a half, and 
then turned on a backward course along other 
avenues of interest and beauty. The sight of a 
glimmer of daylight was welcome when the wan- 
dering was near its end, and, with red faces and 
dripping with perspiration, we enjoyed again the 
fresh air on emerging from the cave. On our 
way, some fair specimens of the crystalline and 
stalactite formation were picked up, to be re- 
tained as mementoes of this wonder of nature, 
which is said to exceed in beauty all other caves 
in the world. 

This evening we are packing up for an early 
start for the interior of the island to visit, by 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 35 

special invitation, the sugar plantation of Santa 
Barbara, located about sixty miles distant. In 
leaving the Hotel Leon de Oro, it will be with a 
knowledge that, notwithstanding its discomforts 
and oddities to us, it is commended as one of 
the best in the country. With its marble floors, 
open and airy halls, courteous attendants, and the 
liberality of its table, we have been pleased ; while 
we have also been pleased to laugh over its quaint 
and disorderly accumulation of old furniture, like 
the contents of an antique garret ; the curious 
and out-of-place position of everything useful and 
useless ; and, while indulging deeply in the many 
really good and novel dishes before us, have 
taken the privilege of turning up our noses at its 
compounds of garlic and oil. Its total absence of 
the female sex for attendants — not a woman 
being seen in the house — and the substitution 
of Chinese masculines for cooks, waiters, washer- 
women, and for the ordinary duties of a chamber- 
maid, seems very funny, especially so when they 
cany coffee at early morning to the ladies, still 
in dishabille, or shrinking under the sheets. Of 



36 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

its lively little parasites, in the form of fleas, I 
will find no fault until time allows me to know 
whether it be, as is reported, that the insect 
is ubiquitous in the island. However, of its 
enormous cockroaches, I have one word to say ; 
they are of the most aristocratic kind — at least, 
they are big bugs ! 

In leaving Matanzas, it will be with the recog- 
nition of our indebtedness to the good people 
who, though we were strangers, met us with out- 
stretched arms, led us to their homes, and made 
us gratefully to know that the tradition of Cuban 
hospitality is not a myth, but a reality which 
must leave its impress so long as memory shall 
last. 

Wednesday, March %th.— With delightful an- 
ticipations of visiting a sugar plantation, in the 
early morning we saw, from our balcony win- 
dows, the volantes ready, and were speedily 
whirled away to the station of the railroad, which 
leads in a southeasterly direction to the interior 
of the island. In the first-class car we found but 
few passengers, and before the end of the journey 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 37 

was reached, our party were its sole occupants ; 
but the second and third classes were well filled. 
The three grades of cars did not seem to differ 
materially in the style of accommodations; all 
that I noticed was that the first class have cane 
seats and backs, whilst those of the inferior rate 
were simply wooden ; yet the general difference 
of caste of the three classes of travelers was 
apparent. 

Whenever the train was about to start from a 
station, a Chinese attendant walked along the 
platform jingling a hand-bell — for bells seem in- 
deed in favor in this country — and soon off went 
the train without anything like our familiar, " All 
right ! 7 ' or, " Go ahead ! " 

The morning was bright and pleasant, and the 
air invigorating ; but our fellow-travellers did not 
seem to so appreciate it, for our windows were the 
only ones opened ; and there they sat, whilst the 
smoke of the omnipresent cigar gathered densely 
around theme At every station a couple' of sol- 
diers, in blue linen with red trimmings, entered 
the train and walked through in a scrutinizing 



38 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

manner. At these stopping-places were stands 
for selling refreshments to travelers, such as 
cakes, guava jelly, cheese, and fruit ; but the 
ones most patronized were those which dealt out 
the usual alcoholic beverage — a kind of rum 
made from the sugar-cane. 

As the interior of the country was reached, the 
resemblance of the level ground to our western 
prairies impressed me. The soil is deep and rich, 
generally of a red-chalk color, but sometimes 
almost black, and the profusion of tropical vege- 
tation increased as the journey proceeded. 

In the midst of a region of sugar plantations, 
indicated in the distance by the towering chim- 
neys of the sugar mills, we were set down from 
the train, and found a volante and saddle horses 
kindly sent for us from the plantation of Santa 
Barbara. 

As I sit down now to write at this tropical 
Eden, with bloom and fruit and the sweet har- 
vest of the cane around ; with the glowing sun 
dipping behind the distant palm trees and cast- 
ing their long shadows on the heated earth, I 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 39 

can well understand the enthusiasm which Co- 
lumbus, the great discoverer of the Island, felt 




COUNTRY GARDEN. 



when, addressing his sovereign, he wrote: "This 
is the most beautiful land eyes ever beheld." 



40 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA, 

Friday. March 8th. — A Cuban bed is conducive 
to early rising. By the time your angularities 
give you the sensation of lying on a gridiron, 
turning hopelessly over and over again to find a 
soft spot ; when your ears ache from compression 
on the hard pillows, and you are tired of amusing 
yourself b}' drumming a tattoo with your fingers 
on the tense sacking-bottom, then a streak of day- 
light in the dappled east is welcome. 

The Cuban habit of taking coffee on rising, with 
or before the sun, and then starting off for the 
morning ride, returning for a late breakfast, is an 
agreeable practice in this region, where exposure 
to the mid-day sun is oppressive. The horses 
were ready saddled at the door this morning as 
we sipped our coffee, just as the stars grew pale 
and the mist lightened up to the eastward. The 
heavy dew matted down the grass, and the long- 
leaves of the sugar cane drooped and dripped 
with excess of moisture. 

Our way led by the endless cane fields, through 
groves of palms, and brushed through the broad- 
leaved patches of bananas, until a stream of water 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 41 

was reached, in which some beautiful wood-ducks 
paddled away into the seclusion of a thicket over- 
hanging the bank. Along the edge of the forest, 
too dense to penetrate, the singing birds, always 
most musical at early hours, mingled their, to my 
ears, unfamiliar notes. 

I plucked some sour wild oranges, for they 
looked too pretty to pass by as they shone in 
bright yellow contrast to the deep green leaves, 
and were plentiful within reach as we rode under 
the trees. As soon as the sun gets a little eleva- 
tion, with the aid of the stroug winds that arise 
with it, the dew is gone, and before we reached 
home, at the late breakfast hour, the pathway 
was already dusty. 

Sunday , March 10th. — An early ride yesterday 
morning, gave a view of some of the agricultural 
processes of the plantation, for this season is an 
active period of the sugar-cane harvest. At this 
early hour the laden ox-carts were returning 
from the field, for the iaborers had been at 
work, as is the practice, since daylight, and the 
4* 



42 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

rude monotonous song of the cane gatherers 
could be heard from a distance. 

Before nearing the field, the polished cutting- 
blades could be seen flashing in the morning sun. 




SUGAR-CANE. 



The cane cutters were in long line, each armed 
with a broad sword-like blade, wide and square at 
the end, and about two feet in length. Each 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 45 

stalk of cane is seized in the hand and cut sepa- 
rately, one swing of the knife cutting off the 
spreading leafy top, and another cut severing the 
cane near to the ground. As the stalks are cut, 
they are thrown into rows to be picked up by the 
gatherers with the ox-carts, the green tops being 
left on the field to be eaten by the cattle. The 
troop of laborers was made up of negroes, a few 
of whom were women, and of some Chinese, or 
coolies, as they are called. 

It seemed as if some mechanical substitute 
might be made to relieve all this hand labor of 
such large forces of workers, and do it much 
more rapidly and cheaply, such as a large reap- 
ing machine. But the difficulty is, perhaps, in 
the necessity for each stalk to be cut at least 
twice, above and below ; and also in some meas- 
ure to the confused manner in which the canes 
are massed together, some erect, others inclined 
or entirely fallen. 

The carts, with their shouting drivers and 
three or four yokes of oxen, follow, and the cane 
is piled into them, each holding two or three 



46 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

tons ; and when filled, they slowly move off 
towards the crushing mill. 

The oxen of these teams are smaller and more 
tractable and intelligent, or under better train- 
ing, than the oxen used in the North, being 
obedient when each is separately called b}^ name, 
and some of the teams are under remarkable con- 
trol by the voices of their drivers. 

The drivers keep up a continued calling or 
ordering the animals, in a tone that is not un- 
musical, and I have been amused at the names of 
the oxen, given to them by the negroes. Some of 
the names which I heard this morning, when 
translated, were, " Diamond," " Good Friend," 
"Dove," "Grain of Gold," "Poison," "Pretty," 
" Sailor," and " Runaway." 

The laborers are directed in their field work by 
an officer called the mayoral, who is the same in 
authority as the slave driver of former times on 
the plantations of our Southern States. He is an 
ordinary sort of fellow, who merely knows the 
work before him, and is mounted on a horse or 
mule, and carries a sword and a large whip. The 



DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 49 

use of the lash is forbidden by law, yet it is said 
to be often used ; but I have not seen airy in- 
stance of it on this plantation. It is, however, 
probable that the whip will of necessity be more 
or less used so long as slavery exists, as compul- 
sion and the fear of punishment must be, in such 
hopeless servitude, the only incentives to work. 

The punishment ordinarily resorted to, usually 
for criminal conduct, is confinement in the stocks 
and the wearing of chains. These forms of pun- 
ishment simply detain or inconvenience the of- 
fender without inflicting pain. 

The breakfast for the laborers was brought to 
the field about eight o'clock, and consisted of 
boiled jerked beef and boiled sweet potatoes, in 
a large wooden box or trough. Folding some 
cane leaves into a sort of basin, each laborer 
supplied himself liberally with the food, and sit- 
ting in the shade of the uncut cane, ate large 
quantities. This diet is varied at other meals with 
the plantain and rice, with sugar and water for a 
drink; and at all moments of idleness the negroes 
are seen gnawing and sucking the sugar-cane. 



50 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

It is said that during the sugar-making season, 
notwithstanding the hard work, the laborers and 
working animals all become fat, due to the con- 
sumption of sugar or the cane. I have seen 
horses and dogs eat sugar, hogs and chickens 
fatten on the refuse of the mills, and flocks of 
birds feed on it where it is exposed in the sun 
and air to dry. 

In case of heavy rains, particularly during the 
wet season, the laborers are protected by large 
sheds mounted on wheels, which are moved from 
place to place, and into which they gather until 
the heavy rain-fall is over. 

Last evening was the occasion of great excite- 
ment on this plantation and the vicinity. On re- 
turning homeward, from our evening ride, there 
was a bright light in the horizon in front of us, 
but it did not attract much attention until it sud- 
denly flared up, when, spurring our horses, it was 
soon seen that a cane-field was blazing and the 
fire rapidly extending. 

This burning of cane-fields is the dread of the 
planter, and often the cause of great loss. On 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 51 

this plantation of Santa Barbara a fire once de- 
stroyed an amount of cane equivalent to two 
thousand boxes of sugar ; and the blaze of cane- 
fields has extended over a continuous track of 
twenty miles, consuming property worth millions 
of dollars. 

For the purpose of detecting fire in its in- 
cipiency, a watchman is, during the daytime, 
stationed in the cupola of the sugar-mill to strike 
an alarm. 

Fire is most dreaded during the high winds 
that prevail from nine in the morning until five 
in the afternoon; the rest of the twenty-four 
hours being usually calm. 

When we reached the cane-field the whole force 
of negroes and coolies was at work, some cutting 
a road through the field of cane at a distance 
in advance of the fire, so as to leave a space 
over which the fire could not advance, and others 
beating out newly ignited spots where sparks or 
coals were carried by the wind. 

The heat was intense, and the stalks of green 



52 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

cane, as they burst from expansion, kept up a 
sound like the rattle of distant musketiy. 

Fortunately the evening was of the usual calm- 
ness, and the vacated space where the cane had 
been cut and carried away before the fire, ended 
its progress. 

Tuesday, March 12th. — My morning and even- 
ing rides always present some new object of in- 
terest ; indeed the whole pathway is among beau- 
ties and novelties which create admiration and 
surprise. My recent transition from a climate of 
winter makes these impressions the more strik- 
ing. The profuse bloom of tropical flowers, the 
most of which are to me unknown exotics, is 
always attractive ; but there are among them 
some old familiar ones, such as the convolvulus 
with its blue and white or purple flowers, which 
are ever in sight, covering the hedges by the 
roadsides. 

Many flowers are large and gaudy in color, 
among which the American aloe is very conspicu- 
ous, as long hedges are frequently formed of it, 
and the flower-stalks often reach to a height of 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 53 

twenty-five feet. Hedges are used for the parti- 
tion of fields and to edge the roads, and many 
beautiful flowers peer out through the dense en- 
tanglement of the thicket. 

The hedge is usually formed of a plant called 
the pina raton, which has long sword-like leaves 
edged with the sharpest points, and as it grows 
with rapidity and density, an impenetrable bar- 
rier is formed. The leaves are usually of a 
bright green color, but are curiously and beauti- 
fully varied, and some are a brilliant red. 

Nothing in the way of vegetation has inter- 
ested me as much as the parasites, which spread 
themselves over larger growths until they are 
completely enveloped. Some of these parasites 
become far larger than the object on which they 
at first effect a lodgment. The most remarkable 
to me is one which commences its growth up in 
the branches of a large tree and spreads itself; 
some of its offshoots descend and take root in 
the ground, and the tree is so entwined and en- 
closed by the parasite that it dies in the fatal 

embrace. Dead trees thus enclosed are abun- 
5* 



54 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

dantly seen in the forests ; and where a large 
tree has in this death-grasp been long dead it 
may be decayed, and in time disappears, so that 
sometimes this enormous growth of what was 
once a mere parasite, now stands up alone with 
the size, form, and firmness of the original tree. 

I occasionally see dead trees covered with para- 
sitic growths whose life is being again sapped 
out by other vegetation upon them : " Thus death 
takes the glow and hue of life, and life the gaunt 
and ghastly form of death." 

The density of these tropical forests is ex- 
treme, entangled as they are by intricate vines 
hanging from aloft in festoons, and interwoven 
with the drooping mosses, lichens, and small 
undergrowth. In such places they can only be 
penetrated, as is the custom, by cutting a way 
with the short sword that is usually carried. In 
the depth of these woods there is, on a calm day, 
a grandeur and intense silence that produces a 
feeling of awe. 

Among the hanging vines of the forest is one 
called the water vine, which has a curious utility. 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 55 

When a piece of it is cut off, pure water flows 
rapidly in a stream from its porous wood, suffi- 
cient for the thirsty traveler, and I have several 
times had a cool and refreshing draught from a 
section of the vine. Some kinds of vines are 
long, smooth, and have a rope-like tenacity, and 
are used by the country people for tying fences 
and for bindings about their rudely constructed 
houses. 

I have seen no animals in these forests except 
birds, snakes, and lizards; but an animal nearly 
the size of a rabbit, called the jutia, or wood rat, 
is abundant, and deer exist in some localities. 
Lizards vary in form, and are often beautifully 
colored. Snakes in this locality are not venom- 
ous, but some kinds, as the boa constrictor, are 
large. I have preserved the skin of one which 
living measured fifteen feet. 

Thursday, March 14th. — This day has been 
one of great enjoyment, as it has been spent in a 
romantic picnic gathering of our social party in 
the woods. 

After our cup of coffee at six in the morning, 



56 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

and while the air was still fresh and cool, the fo- 
liage glittering with dew, a row of saddled horses 
and a volante were ready at the door. A mule 
cart with servants and provisions had preceded 
to make preparation for our breakfast at the en- 
camping-ground. 

The rising smoke from the fire, and when 
nearer, the savory aroma of roasted meat, led to 
an open grove by the side of a stream of water. 

A whole pig was revolving and roasting over a 
fire of glowing coals, and w T as being attentively 
basted with orange-juice. The party amused 
themselves by wandering about, or by fishing in 
the stream, the ready fishing-poles being cut from 
bamboo growing on the bank, and with my gun I 
added a little to vaiy the fare with some game 
birds. 

On returning to the grounds for breakfast, we 
found that a hungry party, sitting in silence aloft 
in the trees, had anticipated us. Flocks of tur- 
key-buzzards had been seen, soaring high in the 
air, and were now in quiet dignity settled, like a 
coroner's jury at an inquest, over our roasting 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 57 

pig. They were harmless, and only aided in 
making the scene more picturesque. 

A tablecloth was spread on the ground, and 
the breakfast was enjoyed as such fare, in the 
open air with its novel surroundings, always is. 

A part of the bill of fare was to have been 
turtle soup, but this item was missing, as our 
only receipt for making the soup commenced 
with " first catch your turtle ;." and this trifling 
preliminary was, after some efforts, decided to be 
a failure. 

Some roamed while others dozed, the horses 
browsing on piles of sugar-cane tops cut for 
them, until the hour for departing homeward, 
when we left the spoils to a party of waiters 
dressed in black — the buzzards. 

Their verdict, in these troublous times, will be 
an agreement that the}^, like other hungry Span- 
ish officials, who are birds of a feather, will send 
in their bills, with clause added to report a casus 
belli; which, where the pig was eviscerated, will 
be an intestine war. 

Saturday, March 16^/?,— -So much life in the 



58 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

open air, late and early, from the first glimmer of 
dawn until the stars shine out and the glow- 
worm marks the pathway, gives me a full appre- 
ciation of this delightful climate. This is the 
latter part of the dry season, for the word winter 
is here unknown ; but I anticipated that the dry 
season would show a general desiccation and 
withering, and am now surprised at the prevalent 
verdure. Occasional showers have fallen through- 
out the season, and the country is of the bright 
greenness of our " leafy month of June." 

Some few trees, it is true, are bare of foliage, 
and others merely budding forth ; for even here, 
" Leaves have their times to fall, and flowers to 
wither," but not at the " north wind's breath." 

The air is clear and pure, without much vari- 
ation in temperature or moisture. The extremes 
now are from seventy to ninety degrees, and the 
average temperature of the island for the entire 
year is eighty degrees. The sun's rays are hot 
for exposure from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.; before 
and after those hours riding and walking are 
agreeable. 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 59 

All visiting, riding, and amusements out-of- 
doors are done in avoidance of the mid-day sun, 
yet the sunshine is quite tolerable to me, on ac- 
count of the strong wind that almost invariably 
arises by nine or ten in the morning, and blows 
until four or five in the afternoon. I have not 
yet experienced a day that could be called sultry. 
The nights are calm and sufficiently cool for 
sleeping under blanket coverings. 

The sky is clear and blue from sunrise until 
sunset, varied by white fleec3 r clouds, and the 
only rain, up to this date of my visit, has been 
an afternoon shower of an hour's duration. 

The sunrises and sunsets are beautiful on ac- 
count of the clearness of the atmosphere. At 
daylight there is a low mist on the ground, but 
as soon as the horizontal rays of the sun gleam 
over the tops of the distant palm-trees on the 
plain, it vanishes, and glowing sunlight reigns 
until the palms on the western horizon again 
cast forth their long shadows. The sun goes 
down red, and the clouds about are aglow with 
crimson and purple, but soon all is sombre even- 



60 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

ing, for there can hardly be said to be a period 
of twilight. The transition from day to night is 
rapid, and light drops into darkness as the cur- 
tain falls at the end of a performance, and an 
economical manager puts out the lights. The 
poetical hour of twilight, when "Fades the 
glimmering landscape on the sight," is lost in 
the intense tropical realities of sunshine and 
darkness. Thus, when riding at a distance from 
home, late in the day, I have been surprised by 
being quickly overtaken by the darkness. 

The only marked change of temperature is 
during the dry season, when the wind blows from 
the north, which is not frequent or of long du- 
ration, but the air may then be chilly at night and 
early in the morning. This chilliness must at 
times, during the winter months, be uncomfort- 
ably felt by the people, as they universally wear 
linen clothing, and the beds, so-called, on which 
they sleep, cannot give warmth. It is not that 
the temperature actually falls so low, but the en- 
tire absence of all means of protection from cool- 
ness and dampness may produce discomfort, as 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 61 

the houses are everywhere built to be cool and 
airy, offering only shelter from sun and rain. 
The houses throughout the rural localities are of 
but one story, with tiled roofs, and usually floors 
of stone or tiles. 

The doors and windows open almost from floor 
to ceiling. Windows are guarded only by iron 
bars and heavy inside shutters, without any glass 
sashes, and of course a chimney, or other arrange- 
ment for artificial warmth, is unknown in the 
island. Thus it will be seen that the houses offer 
no protection from a chilly atmosphere, and it is 
certainly true that such protection is very rarely 
needed ; but I am prepared to advise every friend 
who may be inclined to run away from winter, 
and to experience this delightful climate, to bring 
with him an overcoat for emergencies, and if he 
should travel much through the beautiful inte- 
rior, it would be well to be provided with his own 
blanket, as he will find such articles scarce among 
the country people. 

The houses of the smaller farmers and the 

country people generally, even among some who 

6 



62 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

are said to be wealthy, are of a character which 
we in the North would consider most wretched. 
But the wretchedness pertains to outward cir- 
cumstances which do not exist in this tropical 
climate, where merely protection from sun and 
raiu is desired. These houses are constructed 
of thin strips of the palm-tree or bamboo, with 
sometimes a fibrous material from the cocoanut 
tree packed in between them. The roof is 
thatched with palm leaves, and the floor merely 
the bare ground, and that is worn into a rough, 
uneven condition. There may be partitions 
dividing the space into several rooms, which 
seem usually dark on account of closure of the 
window-shutter, if there be one. A few rough 
chairs and a table constitute the furniture, 
which with some enormous and ornamented sad- 
dles, some ox-3'okes, and a piece of jerked beef, 
with small sheafs of nnhulled rice, or bunches of 
herbs hanging from the rafters, make up the 
household property. 

I rode this morning through a country beyond 
the sugar plantations, among the poorer orders of 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 63 

country people, who live in this style of houses. 
The} r are an humble class, of marked peculiarities ; 
but their manners and courteous deportment in 
general are their best features. Their dress is 
primitive, being merely a linen shirt worn outside 
the pantaloons, which are of the same material, 
and a pair of low shoes or slippers on bare feet. 
They continually wear swords, either long or 
short, often ornamented with silver, and ride with 
large rattling spurs. It is impossible to be among 
them without being impressed with their kind- 
ness, and, even among the humblest, with a little 
polish of manner. 

Monday, March ISth. — I have been wandering 
to-day in some new directions, leaving the broad 
plateau of the cane-fields, following streams of 
water or the winding edges of the forest, and oc- 
casionally dismounting to penetrate the deep 
shades and observe tropical nature in its seclu- 
sion and wildness. 

It is interesting to see the peculiarities and the 
exuberance of growth of trees and vines, but par- 
ticularly the varieties of the parasites on trees, and 



64 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

those particularly which we would call air-plants. 
There is great variety in the forest trees, the 
largest being the ceiba, some specimens of which 
are the greatest trees, both in height and size of 
trunk, that I have ever seen. There are trees 
which have the semblance of our larches, but the 
forest is almost made up of unfamiliar foliage. 

The great tropical characteristic among trees 
is the royal palm, for it is the most conspicuous 
and most abundant of all. It is never out of 
sight, being spared in the clearing of forests ; is 
cultivated in groves, and in long lines to form 
ornamental avenues ; its branching top surmounts 
and waves over the smaller trees of the forest, 
and the horizon almost everywhere is a crest of 
palms. The tree has great utility ; the outside 
hard incasement of the loose fibrous trunk is 
used as boards in building houses, and the 
branches serve for thatching. Near to the top of 
the tree, where the branches start out, is a mate- 
rial that is eaten on the table as a vegetable. It 
is a delicate and pure white substance, and I can 
attest its agreeable n ess as an article of diet, either 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 65 

boiled or raw. The palm has a long straight and 
bare trunk, reaching directly upward for even 
sixty or eighty feet. It has a smooth and clean 
grayish-white appearance, as if it had received a 
coat of whitewash, and my first sight of it, in the 
vicinity of dwellings, gave me the impression that 
such was the case. 

Another tree of prominence and beauty is the 
cocoanut. It grows everywhere throughout the 
island, and is of utility for its fruit, as a beautiful 
shade tree, and for a peculiar mat-like texture 
which incases it, and which has various mechan- 
ical applications. 

Nothing that grows has, to my view, such an 
air of tropical luxuriance as the banana plant, 
in its different varieties, having immense graceful 
leaves of a bright-green color, and it is of rapid 
growth. A large and coarse variety of the fruit 
takes the place of bread for almost the entire popu- 
lation, eaten boiled or roasted ; and a smaller and 
more delicate kind is a most luscious fruit. The 
kind which serves as the ordinary food of the 
laboring masses is cultivated in large fields, which 
6* 



66 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

produce extensively with but little culture. A 
field of the banana plants, with the heavy pendant 
bunches of the fruit, is the best display of profu- 
sion in tropical production. 

The wild orange and lemon trees, now laden 
with fruit, are beautiful objects as the fruit shines 
among the dark-green leaves ; but the oranges 
are too sour to be agreeable. 

Guava trees are abundant, and the fruit is now 
ripe and ready for making the popular jelly and 
marmalade. The fruit is sweet and has a rich but 
not very attractive flavor, and a surfeit of them 
can soon be attained. I gathered to-day ripe 
tamarinds, riding under the now leafless trees. 

An esculent, which is very productive, and 
forms a considerable portion of the laborer's 
diet, is the sweet potato. It is reputed to be 
better than the sweet potato in the North, but it 
is, in my opinion, not near so good, being more 
insipid, heavy, and solid. 

The great deficiency in diet for the masses of 
the people is in regard to fresh meat, its place 
being poorly supplied by the salted and dried 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 67 

article. Cattle look pretty well in the fields, and 
there seems to be abundant provender for them. 
Sheep do not thrive so well ; they are thin, and 
their wool is very scant and coarse. 

The animal which seems the most degenerate 
under climatic or other influences, whatever they 
may be, is the hog. A Chester County farmer 
would not recognize in them the animal which he 
has bred up to such perfection. They have long 
legs and longer snouts, and are singularly flat 
and thin. Taking a front and rear look at them, 
they are so narrow as to be almost invisible, but 
on broadside view, the}^ make a wonderful slab- 
sided display. They must be specially con- 
structed to work their way through the thick 
undergrowth in the woods. They are black, and 
almost minus bristles. I first saw some of them 
in the forest, and thought at a distance that they 
were wild goats ; but the familiar grunt saved the 
life of at least one of them, and avoided another 
buzzard inquest. 

Nevertheless I can attest that they make good 



68 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

meat with a somewhat gamy flavor ; and they cer- 
tainly look more like game than gammon. 

I had supposed that in this region of endless 
summer the grazing animals would be harassed 
by insect annoyances, but it seems not at any 
seasons to be so much the case as in the North. 
During my observation not a fly has been seen 
on horses or oxen, and even the ordinary domes- 
tic fly seems to be scarce. When I first noticed 
the practice of plaiting horses' tails and tying 
the end to the saddle or girth on one side, it 
seemed to be a cruelty to restrain the animal 
from the use of his natural fly-brush, but it is 
apparently not needed. 

I do not notice at this season many insects of 
any kinds, excepting some varieties of ants, and 
the evidence of their work, constructive and de- 
structive, is prodigious. The whole country is 
marked with prominent tumuli which are ant 
hills. The height of some of these pyramids I 
have estimated at ten feet. Another kind of ant 
inhabits a nest which is a large mass, from two to 
three feet in diameter, fastened on trees, and it 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 69 

is often very destructive when it secures a lodg- 
ment in the woodwork of houses, reducing the 
strong framework to a crumbling mass. 

Wednesday, March 20th. — I have returned from 
a long ride, and am impressed with the merits of 
the Cuban horse. He is a pony-built horse, of 




CUBAN HORSE. 

good form and capable of long journeys with 
endurance, but his great merit is his gait as 
a saddle-horse. The movement is a rack, all 
horses used under the saddle being trained to 
it, and long journeys can be accomplished with- 
out fatigue to the rider. The saddles are large 
and cumbersome, well suited for novices in riding 
to keep their position by the hollowness of the 
seat and by holding on with their hands, but 



70 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

they seem awkward and inconvenient to expe- 
rienced riders. 

There is some attention given to the stock 
and training of these horses, and, among the 
better class of people, they are objects of pride 
and are well cared for, but I have seen the 
saddest abuse of them among a low class of 
people in the cities. 

When this island, so blessed by nature and 
so oppressed by misrule, shall become linked 
with our own country, one of the first humane 
enactments should be for the prevention of 
cruelty to animals. Every traveler here will be 
impressed with the great disproportion of the 
size and strength of the animal to the amount 
of labor required. The horses are mere ponies 
in form, but are spurred and beaten to excessive 
struggles to move their burdens. They are thin 
and jaded, scarred and haggard-looking, and 
although naturally of great spirit, their heads 
droop to their knees as soon as the burden is re- 
moved and the lash ceases its work. In the city 
of Havana it is wonderful what these poor beasts 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 71 

can be made to struggle through under the stim- 
ulus of the spur and lash. The spur used is 
capable of penetrating the flesh, and the he&yy 
clubbed handle of the whip is the favorite end for 
use. And after such a toilworn existence is near 
its end, the horse may be sold for a few dollars, 
to be ridden blindfolded and under goading spurs 
into the bull-ring to be gored to death; for with 
only such horses is the wretched bull-fight sup- 
plied. 

Such is the style of horse and the character of 
his treatment among the lower classes of the 
people in Cuban cities ; and other animals, as the 
ox, are liable to similar abuse. I have often seen 
the yoked ox urged forward by one person pulling 
on a rope attached .to a ring through his nose, 
while another goaded him in the flanks with a 
pole tipped at one end with a sharp iron point. 

We have a new sensation on this plantation in 
the arrival of a lot of Chinese laborers, called 
coolies, just from the vessel, after a voyage of 
nearly five months. They came to labor under 
contract for eight years, receiving, beyond their 



72 DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

living, the remarkably low wages of four dollars 
a month. 

They look remarkably neat, in dress of Chi- 
nese style, with hair in a long plaited tail. They 
have rather dull, submissive faces, and their 
smiles are, as is reputed, " childlike and bland." 
They are rather slightly formed, and, with their 
small hands and feet, with long finger-nails, I 
have been wondering what kind of occupation 
they have been accustomed to at home. It will 
take some time to inure them to the hard labor 
they are destined for. 

Some of them are weak and sick, due probably 
to scurvy produced by the privations of their 
long voyage ; but they seem happy, and are 
greeted by a number of their countrymen who 
have served for some years on this place. 

Their condition here will be, while under con- 
tract, but little better than that of the negro 
slaves with whom they will labor and associate, 
and they will be subject to the same compulsions 
and punishments of the lash or stocks, at the 
mercy of their employers. 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 73 

Every plantation has a number of coolie labor- 
ers, and the importation of them will probably 
increase with the demand for them. They will 
take the place of the negro, whose condition of 
slavery will soon be over, as by government en- 
actment of a few years ago all are born free, and 
it is the experience here that the freed negro will 
not labor. I have visited the great plantations, 
such as Santa Rita, with its nine hundred laborers, 
and Flor de Cuba, Tinguaro, and others, and have 
seen large numbers of these coolies. They are 
preferred for all kinds of skilled labor, but do not 
bear field work in the hot sun so well as the negro. 
I saw, while riding through this cane country 
this morning, a party hunting a runaway slave. 
They were mounted, armed with swords and 
guns, and had with them the traditional Cuban 
bloodhounds, tied with long cords to their saddles. 
Instances of slaves running away, occasionally 
occur, and it is remarkable that they are not 
more frequent, considering the fact that the run- 
away can so easily find concealment, and sustain 
himself on the wild products of the country. 



74 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

Sunday, March 2±th. — Yesterday morning we 
started early with a volante and saddle-horses for 
a visit to the fine plantation of Tinguaro. The 
morning was -bright, as every morning is, and the 
air cool as it ever is before the sun's rays get 
much elevated above the horizon. After a few 
miles ride through the country of red soil, rais- 
ing clouds of dust, a great change was experi- 
enced in reaching a region of the black land, and 
the marked difference in the soil characteristics 
was disagreeably manifest. The transition to 
the black land was rapid, and instead of its being 
dry and dusty, the mere surface was somewhat 
dried, and the depth a stiff plastic kind of mud, 
the roads having deep ruts through which only 
teams of three yokes of oxen could drag the loads, 
and the volante had to seek ways which avoided 
the traveled roads. Yet no rain had fallen for 
some weeks, the soil retaining moisture so as to 
form a sticky mud, which is long in drying, and 
is a great impediment to the operations of the 
planter. The dark soil is, however, more produc- 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 75 

tive than the red, which is more liable to suffer 
from drought, but is more readily tilled. 

The productive qualities of both soils for some 
plants is wonderful. I have been informed that 
there are instances of successive crops of sugar- 
cane having been taken from fields uninterrupt- 
edly through a period of forty years, and without 
the application of manure. Such cropping for 
fifteen or twenty years is usual. 

After reaching Tinguaro, and accepting the in- 
variable hospitality of the planter, the beautiful 
plantation of Flor de Cuba, with its fine porti- 
coed mansion and gorgeous tropical garden, was 
visited, and gave us great pleasure, and then I 
took my departure for a tour along the south 
coast of the island. 

The railway travel to Cienfuegos was a hot 
and dusty ride through a country of no particular 
attractions. It was varied, but in an uninterest- 
ing way, by crossing some desert savannas, pro- 
ducing little more vegetation than the palmetto, 
which flourishes on the poorest soil. Over these 
dry and parched soils the air seemed like the 



76 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

sirocco of an African desert, and water, at least 
for drinking purposes, was as scant as there; but 
rum could be had, and was in demand, at every 
station. 

As we passed through some regions the grass 
and undergrowth were on fire, and heat and 
smoke were added to the already stifling air. The 
breeze died out as the afternoon passed, the pal- 
mettos did not shake a leaf, and my fellow-travel- 
ers smoked and dozed, and dozed and smoked 
again. Some fruit-sellers came up to the train, 
and the fresh and juicy oranges were refreshing. 

I noticed at a station that some of the railroad 
timber was mahogany, a useful application of that 
usually only ornamental wood. I felt a home- 
like sympathy with the engine, bearing the name 
of a Philadelphia maker, and with a sharp-vis- 
aged, restless-looking Yankee who managed it. 

Some fine plantations were passed, but most of 
the regions seemed sparsely occupied by people 
living in small houses built of bamboo, plastered 
with mud, and with roofs thatched with palm 
leaves. 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 77 

The misty hills and the blue waters of the bay 
of Cienfuegos came in sight as the sun went 
down, and I breathed the warm soft air from the 
south coast sea. 

In the "Hotel La Union" I found rest in the 
heavily walled rooms, closed during mid-day from 
the burning sun, and open from floor to ceiling at 
night. The hotel is the neatest I have seen on the 
island, and the fare less outre to my taste. There 
is an air of stiffness about the place, caused by 
the extraordinary use of starch; for I sit down 
to a starched table-cloth which crackles on ap- 
proaching the table ; crawl into starched and rust- 
ling sheets on the beds ; — even the napkins and 
towels are rigid, and I am informed that the laun- 
dress always starches the pocket-handkerchiefs. 

I went this morning to the Plaza, being at- 
tracted in that direction by the bell of the old 
cathedral, and saw the faithful going into the 
church. The old bell tolled sonorously and sol- 
emnly, but soon a very small bell in the same 
belfry joined in, and made a most discordant 

clatter. 

7* 



78 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

Iii the street in front and at the door of the 
cathedral were rows of music-stands, and a mil- 
itary band came up, and played some beautiful 
operatic selections, and I sat on the steps, enjoy- 
ing at least this part of the religious ceremonies. 
After this was over the band entered the church, 
and I sat observing with curious interest the 
varied styles, ranks, castes, and colors of people 
as they arrived. The ladies came with bare 
heads, or were covered with veils, and many 
were followed by servants who carried chairs 
for them to sit on, and also handsome rugs to 
kneel on. 

The day is Palm Sunday, and some unusual 
performances, including an abundant display and 
distribution of palm branches are in order ; but 
besides the religious display the day has not the 
air of a Sabbath, for business goes on as usual, 
and some laborers are engaged in repairing the 
street, even in front of the church. 

Within the church the congregation were gen- 
erally standing or kneeling, and I walked around 
looking at the paintings and the stained glass of 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 79 

the windows. People were mingled miscellane- 
ously in their worship, and I was impressed with 
the extremes of complexion — very dark white 
people and very light negroes — and came to the 
conclusion that color alone will not go very far 
in the distinctions of races on this island. 

The practice of whitening the face with cos- 
metic powder is universal among the ladies, and 
I noticed it abundantly applied on the faces of 
very little girls. It was so excessively smeared 
in some instances as to be accumulated in masses 
in their ears, corners of the mouth, and folds of 
skin on the neck and face. But there were many 
beautiful faces among the ladies, even after allow- 
ing a heavy discount for the cosmetics — certainly 
to those who can appreciate the poetry of a face 
of waxen pallor, with dreamy, languishing eyes, 
and a profusion of drooping black tresses. 

There was much ceremonious performance in 
the church, which was led off by a fat priest, who 
perspired profusely under his exertions and the 
burden of his robes. One of the devotees offered 
me a piece of palm leaf, which I accepted without 



80 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

any increase of devotional feeling, and I strolled 
off, ruminating on the antithesis of religion as a 
faith and religion as a life practice — on creeds 
versus conduct. 

I noticed some doves flying about the old ca- 
thedral, lodging on the cornices and belfry, and 
they seemed at home ; but as emblems of peace, 
humility, and simplicity, with their plain attire, 
they looked out of place, and I thought how 
much more appropriately they might be shelter- 
ing under the eaves of our old Arch Street Meet- 
ing-house. They were, however, well offset by 
the buzzards, which grovelled in and wrangled 
for the offal in the street. 

My repose last night was broken regularly 
every hour by a watchman, who bawled out, in a 
drawling and melancholy manner, immediately 
under my window, the hour of the night and the 
character of the weather, information well enough 
for those who desire to be so informed with that 
frequency, but I thought it not of sufficient im- 
portance to compensate for the loss of the night's 
rest. I intend for to-night to bribe him into a 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 81 

sin of omission, or to try it on those whose slum- 
bers or potations are deeper than mine. These 
watchmen are curiously preserved relics of an- 
tiquity, going about the streets at night with a 
long spear in one hand and a lantern in the 




WATCHMAN. 



other, and making night hideous with their 
moaning cry. As the weather is so generally 
clear, their usual cry is Serenof and they are in 
derision called Serenos. 

The weather is extremely hot, and the south 
wind, although it blows strongly from over the 



82 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

bay and the near open sea, is not refreshing. 
The people have a wilted look, as if oppressed by 
the heat. Among the lower classes, black and 
white, the small children go about entirely naked. 

The hotel " La Union" is probably one of the 
best on the island ; but this is no great commen- 
dation where hotels are uniformly bad. Mr. 
Trollope, in an article, commenting on hotels in 
general, says that : " The worst hotels that I 
know are in Havana ; nothing can beat them in 
filth, discomfort, habits of abomination, and ab- 
sence of everything which the traveler desires." 

The hotels of Cuba are all deficient not only in 
the essentials of comfort for the traveler, but 
most especially in those of decency and pro- 
priety. I found my bed a piece of canvas, 
tensely stretched, and with merely a starched 
linen sheet upon it; but I asked for and obtained 
a blanket, not for covering, but to lie upon. I 
have occasionally noticed travelers carrying with 
them heavy rugs, intended to be placed on the 
hard sacking-bottoms. It is said, in extenua- 
tion of the comfortless beds and bare stone or 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 83 

tiled floors, that mattresses and carpets would 
harbor fleas ; but that the present arrangements 
do not secure an immunity from them every trav- 
eler in Cuba will attest. 

The manner in which Cuban hotels are built, 
with the doors and windows of lodging-rooms 
opening on an inclosed area in which all the dis- 
agreeable and dirty work is performed, in an en- 
tirely exposed manner, renders them unpleasant 
to travelers. The view and odor of cooking are 
always prominent. As you step from your room 
in the morning, it is to see a dirty fellow wring- 
ing the necks or plucking the feathers of chickens, 
or cleaning fish for your breakfast. The cost of 
living in this style, or absence of style, is about 
that of really first-class hotels in the North. 

The table is excellently supplied with what are 
considered delicacies. Oysters are abundant, but 
are extremely small, such as would not be gath- 
ered in the North ; but they have a good flavor. 
Coffee served early in the mornings came in 
an ordinary glass goblet. Wine of fair quality, 
even at the humblest hotels, is supplied without 



84 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

extra charge. Notwithstanding the abundance 
of wines and spirits, drunkenness is rare among 
the native population. 

The great number of volantes and other forms 
of vehicles is characteristic of Cuban cities, but 
in Cienfuegos they seem scarce. 

Wednesday, March 21th. — I took the cars from 
Cienfuegos for the more agreeable climate of the 
elevated interior, and arrived at the ancient city 
of Villa Clara last evening. Part of the way was 
through regions where the guava trees reached 
for miles, and where the confections of it are 
made. At Esperanza, a village noted for its 
guava jelly and paste, large quantities were seen 
and offered for sale in the cars. There were sev- 
eral different kinds, and all were delightful and 
superior to any I had heretofore tasted. 

It seemed out of time to be gathering crops of 
Indian corn, as I noticed on the way, in the glow- 
ing verdure of these latter days of a tropical 
March; but the stalks and blades were withered, 
and the fields reminded me of home-days in Oc- 
tober. Two crops of corn are raised in the year. 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 85 

During the route we have had in view, to the 
eastward, some ranges of mountains, and have 
been surprised at a curious illusion as to their 
distance. Some guesses located them as near as 
three miles, but they were actually from forty to 
sixty miles away. 

Villa Clara looks like an old Moorish city, 
and here may be seen the purest types of Cuban 
people. It does not seem to have a business 
character, but there is evidence of wealth among 
the citizens. I should think that the population 
is mostly made up of wealthy and retired planters. 

I was attracted in the evening by a band of 
music on the Plaza, and on reaching it, was sur- 
prised to find such an ornamental promenade, 
large, and brightly lighted with gas, which, with 
the more romantic illumination of a full moon, 
shining on light stone buildings and through 
heavy foliage, made it a kind of fairy-land spec- 
tacle. While the band played in the centre, a 
large number of prettily dressed ladies prome- 
naded around the enclosure, and as Villa Clara 



86 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

is noted in song and story for its beautiful ladies, 
I took the opportunity of verifying the fact. 

Hotels here are of humble character, but with 
grandiloquent names. I lodged at the Hotel "La 
Cinque Villas," and would have slept but for an- 
other noisy peripatetic watchman, who lugubri- 
ously stated that the weather was cloudy, in 
which information I was previously posted by 
rain pattering on the tiled roof above me. 

It is evident that people do not travel much on 
this island ; the cars are not well filled, particu- 
larly the first class cars, and there are but one or 
two trains a day, even on the most traveled roads. 
Before the days of railroads there could not have 
been any active intercommunication, on account 
of the bad qualhVy of the common roads. For 
this reason a vast proportion of the masses of 
the people have seen but little beyond their im- 
mediate vicinity. 

At this dry season the roads in the level coun- 
try are good; but the difficulty is after rains, 
when they become impassable to vehicles on ac- 
count of the depth of the mud. The wheels sink 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 87 

to the axle, and the sticky mud adheres until 
spokes and rim are hidden in one mass. This is 
truly a land of mud in the wet season, and I 
have heard in Spanish the exaggerated expres- 
sion, that " the roads become so muddy that a 
bird cannot fly over them." 

It does not seem possible that even the most 
traveled roads can be constructed to remain 
good during the wet season, on account of the 
scarcity of timber and hard stone. 

The quaint-looking volante, with its enormous 
wheels, has some merit for dragging through 
these roads when three horses are geared to it 
abreast, one being ridden by a driver who urges 
them on. But this vehicular oddity will 'soon 
disappear or will be retained merely as a conven- 
tionality of style for a nobby family equipage. 

Saturday, March SQth. — I engaged a volante 
driver, who, by the way, stated that his name was 
"Jesus of Mary," to rouse me for the early train 
westward yesterday morning, and, ere the dawn, 
he shouted between the bars of the lodging-room. 
After groping for some time, a pint of water was 



88 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

found, which my friend and I divided between us 
for our ablutions, and we left this comfortless inn 
without even the offering of a morning draught 
of coffee. Thence we journeyed to the plantation 
of Tinguaro, and, after a welcome from its hos- 
pitable household, mounted saddle horses, and 
nightfall found us in the sociality of home life on 
the plantation of Santa Barbara. 

The sensation of this morning is the melan- 
choly announcement that one of the newly arrived 
Chinese laborers was found dead, having com- 
mitted suicide by hanging himself to a beam 
across the bathing-house. The self-murder was 
effected in a determined manner, as the feet were 
almost touching the floor, a ledge was within 
their reach, and objects of support could have 
been readily seized by the hands. Suicide has 
been of frequent occurrence among the coolies in 
Cuba, and the practice has often been followed 
by imitation of their associates. Sometimes it 
seems to have been accomplished in a spirit of 
vindictiveness towards their employers, and, 
again, in a curious belief of their transmigration 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 89 

back to China after death. I have been informed 
that on one estate, after several single suicides, 
six coolies were found on one morning hanging by 
the neck. It is said that further instances were 
prevented by making in the presence of their com- 
rades a complete dissection and mutilation of one 
of the bodies. With a similar object, the bodies 
in some cases of suicide were placed on a pile of 
wood and totally destroyed by fire. These hor- 
rible sights, it is said, took from the Chinese 
their romantic ideas on the subject of self-de- 
struction. 

The Chinese laborers are of mild and tract- 
able temperament, seem to be contented with 
their humble duties, and are submissive to the 
abuse to which they are on some plantations sub- 
jected ; but when once their revengeful nature is 
aroused, they mutually combine with each other 
and have proved dangerous in their rage. I saw 
yesterday an officer of a plantation whose arm 
had been severed in an attack, and in another 
neighborhood a white employer was murdered 

by them, his skull having been hacked to pieces 

8* 



90 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

by their hoes, each one of the infuriated coolies 
striking a blow at him. 

The body of the Chinese suicide has been in- 
terred outside the walls of the little enclosure 
which, by church regulation, must receive the re- 
mains of those only who have been baptized in 
the Catholic faith. Id digging the shallow grave 
to receive the body, another sleeper was uncere- 
moniously turned out by the spades, and I saw 
the decaying remnants of mortality, including a 
skull with some matted hair and portions of 
clothing, scattered on the ground, and they were 
left so to remain. Such disregard of propriety 
in regard to the repose of the dead is the custom 
throughout the island. The poorer classes are 
buried without coffins, just beneath the surface, 
and the bodies quickly decay in the perpetually 
heated earth. 

Monday, April 1st. — At sunrise this morning 
the volante and saddle-horses were ready for a 
ride of a few leagues to Colon, one of the more 
modern of Cuban inland towns. It seems to be 
the first place in the island to bear the name of 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 91 

its great discoverer. In the name of Cristobal 
Colon we seem hardly able to recognize its Latin- 
ized and, to ns, familiar rendering of Christopher 
Columbus. 

I felt curious to know whether these old-fash- 
ioned people would build a new town after the 
quaint and semi-barbaric styles of the old, but 
was gratified to find some evidences of progress. 
The streets were wide and regularly laid out. In 
some of the old Moorish-stjded towns of the 
island, it would not be a very long leap to cross 
the street by jumping from the projecting eaves 
of the roof on one side to those on the other. 
There is also the modern improvement of side- 
walks to the streets, which they have actually 
gotten .wide enough' for two persons to walk 
together. The pavements are edged and shaded 
by long and beautiful rows of laurel trees. 

An ornamental plaza, the inevitable pleasure 
resort of every Cuban town, is being laid out, 
and I took some interest in watching the prog- 
ress of building a cathedral, which will be large, 
but not grand. The work was crawling along in 



92 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

the usual national style. Some coolies and ne- 
groes were removing a heap of gravel at the 
building by putting it into small boxes and plac- 
ing them on their heads. They then slowly 
walked off" with them, emptied the contents, and 
returned to the heap. A man with a large whip, 
in slave-driver style, superintended the work. 
I pictured to myself, by way of comparison, a 
smart Irishman, with spade and wheelbarrow, at 
that gravel heap, doing in less time the work of 
the dozen laborers, and not requiring an extra 
hand to wield the lash. 

At a farrier's shop in the vicinity I noticed 
that it required three men to shoe a horse, one to 
do the work while another held the hoof, and the 
third held the horse's head and gave general as- 
sistance ; yet withal the work progressed slowly. 

The streets are macadamized with white stone, 
and the glare from them and from the light- 
colored houses was intolerable under the vertical 
sun of mid-day. 

A visit to the prison was interesting, and a 
keeper courteously showed the interior. The 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 93 

prisoners were mostly coolies and negroes, and 
were employed in braiding palm-leaves for hats, 
and in making cigarettes. The garrote was an 
object of grim interest. The keeper apologized 
for its being dirty and out of order, that it had 
not been used very lately. My attention was 
attracted to some rudely made, high-backed 
chairs, the use of which was explained to be, "to 
seat the dead ones upon before the spectators, to 
make room for others on the garroting stool!" 




NEGRO HUT. 



, Wednesday, April 3d. — We have to-day jour- 
neyed from the interior of the island to Havana ; 



94 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

from the fresh air of the country, with cool nights 
and breezy noons, to the unvarying heat, dust, 
and close air of the city. The course has been 
through varied regions, from the level cane-fields 
and the farm lands to the fruit groves and gardens 
near the metropolis. The view was over a country 
mostly level, but it was on the north side termi- 
nated by a distant mountain range, or by the hills 
bordering the north coast. Many of the most at- 
tractive towns were passed through, and near 
Havana were to be seen palatial villas, romanti- 
calry located on eminences, the brilliant contrast 
of their blue, yellow, and white colors with the 
light and dark-tinted foliage being beautifully 
effective. The general adoption of blue as a part 
of the color of buildings gives a picturesqe addi- 
tion to the landscape. 

After a brief experience of the Hotel el Tele- 
grafo, I am inclined to recant at least some of 
my anathemas against Cuban hotels in general. 
Some of the abominations so conspicuous in the 
court-yard enclosures are here partially hidden 
by a conservatory of flowers, in the form of a 




jij! jf!^ 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 97 

garden, on the tiled roof of a low building that 
almost fills the space ; but there is the same 
tendenc}^ to the accumulation of empty boxes, 
barrels, and trash in corners, and there are 
offensive adjuncts that diffuse horrible odors. 
The fare at the table is really good and free from 
the disgusting qualities of garlic and oiliness, 
which is a relief after a few weeks' feeding on the 
usual fare everywhere in Cuba. In commending 
the fare in general, it is not necessary to except 
the article of butter, for that will never be even 
tasted by the traveler anywhere on the island, as 
its rancid odor is sufficiently diffused to be a safe 
precaution. 

Some of the rooms at this hotel are little en- 
closures, singularly but advantageously located 
on the roof, and they have decided merits with 
regard to ventilation. About them there is a 
spacious promenade on the level roof, enclosed 
within battlement-walls, and its elevation gives a 
good lookout over the city and surroundings. It 
also gives to the curious observer an opportunity 
of prying into the customs and doings of our 



98 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

neighbors, one of whom, I notice, keeps his 
goats on an adjoining roof; and on another tiled 
roof is a horse enjoying high life in that unstable 
position. 

I have been interested in observing the rem- 
nants of the massive ancient walls which once 




OLD CITY WALLS. 



enclosed and, in their da}', strongly fortified the 
city of Havana ; bnt the town has long since out- 
grown its enclosure, and the outlines of the walls 
mark bnt an oblong section of the centre of the 
city. Building and street improvements have 
generally removed the walls, but enough remain 
for objects of curiosity and interest as ruins. 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 99 

One of the great entrances of the city, called the 
Tierra Gate, which is architectural!}' ornamental, 




TIERRA GATE. 



still remains. I noticed in one place that the 
keeper of a nionkej'-show had made an excavation 
in a part of the wall, leaving its exterior but a 
hollow shell, and was peacefully amusing the peo- 
ple ; to such base uses had it come at last. 
■ The remains of Columbus lie in the ancient 
cathedral of Havana. If there is a tomb at which 



100 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

homage is due, it is that of the man who, dis- 
covering a world, received naught but insult and 
sorrow as his earthly reward, and to whose honor 
small tribute has since been paid. The remains 
of Columbus, after the third removal, were finally 
deposited in a metallic box, which is now encased 




TOMB OF COLU31BUS. 

in the masonry at the side of the altar of this old 
church. Some years after his death his ashes 
were removed from Spain to the island of St. 
Domingo, and about seventy-five years ago they 




9* 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 103 

were brought to Havana. I have been informed 
that when disinterred for the last time, which was 
nearly three hundred years after his death, but 
little of even dust was found, and but one bone. 
A tablet in the wall, and a bust of the great dis- 
coverer, upon which some unworthy lines of com- 
monplace sentiment are inscribed, are all that 
indicate the tomb. 

The cathedral was built about one hundred and 
fifty years ago, and, besides its being honored as 
the mausoleum of Columbus, is interesting on ac- 
count of its great size and quaint architecture. 
It is constructed of coral limestone, originally 
white, but now dingy from age, and I noticed the 
arborescent tracings of coral branches and shell 
impressions on every stone within reach of the 
eye. 

The building was closed when I reached it, but 
curiosity led me to grope around a yard in its 
rear, where I found a man who held a bunch of 
keys in his hand, and some small coins caused 
those keys to grate musically in the rusty locks 
which led through recesses dark and mysterious, 



104 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

until the inner temple was gained. A " dim 
religious light" was cast over the sculpture, 
paintings, and on the grand mosaic floors, and 
two perpetually burning tapers in large vases of 
oil glowed faintly on the altar. 

I had reached the heart of the man with the 
keys, and he continued to invade for me the 
sacerdotal privacies of gorgeous priestly robes, 
and showed all the costly machinery of religion, 
in pure gold and silver, including the parapher- 
nalia of parades, locked up in great mahogany 
chests and closets. 

What a chance here for sacrilegious plunder 
may some day come, should anarchy precede this 
island's political clay of reckoning and redemp- 
tion from bondage ! 

The very name Havana is so associated with 
cigars that visitors . are curious to see something 
of their production, and knowing that the great 
cigarette factory of '.' La Honradez " is courte- 
ously open for inspection, we saw the manner in 
which more than two millions of cigarettes are 
made every day, mostly by the labor of Chinese 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 105 

operatives, who have acquired great dexterity in 
the manipulations. There is a large amount of 
fine and ingenious machinery in the establish- 
ment, which, I notice, bears the name of American 
manufacturers; and indeed it is elsewhere, as 
here, on this island, that all that represents inge- 
nuity, invention, and the progress of intelligence, 
may be referred for its origin either to the United 
States or England. 

I have never been in any locality, from the 
capital to the most obscure village, where the 
lottery-ticket venders are not noisy annoyances 
and disagreeable importuners. They are seen in 
every public place, press the stranger in the 
hotels, at railway stations, and in the streets, and 
are indeed scarcely ever out of sight where people 
are passing or are congregated. The ticket-sellers 
are of all ages, from children to the old and 
decrepit. 

The lottery is under government patronage ; a 
large revenue being derived from it, as one-fourth 
of the amount of the money staked is appropriated 
by the state. It is therefore the wretched policy 



106 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

to encourage the demoralizing institution, to the 
great injury of the people, as it appears that few 
in the community avoid yielding to the temptation 
to " try their luck." 

The successful drawings are publicly announced, 
and thus the cupidity of persons is kept excited 
by hearing of money in great sums, as from one 
to three hundred thousand dollars, being drawn. 

The number of persons who continually invest 
all above a bare subsistence in these schemes, 
and still keep hoping on for a chance fortune, 
must be very great. The few successes are 
loudly proclaimed, while the vast number of 
blanks is forgotten ; but a sure prize every time, 
is to the government which withholds its propor- 
tion of the capital as revenue. 

Friday, April bth. — The botanical gardens, 
located in the suburbs of Havana, are beautiful 
bej^ond any gardens I have ever seen, and ex- 
ceeded my anticipations of them. Indeed the 
place is such as might have formed the fabric of 
a dream of Oriental romance, or of an Arabian 
night's tale. Tropical foliage, flowers, groves, 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 107 

streams, and fountains make it up — all too much 
of beaiuy for description. 

After leaving the gardens, we rode in the 
volante to the top of a great hill which overlooks 
the city and surroundings, and over the blue ex- 
panse of the Gulf of Mexico. The hill slopes 
down in a single declivity to where the white 
surf marks a line between the grassy verdure and 
the blue water. 

On this hill is an object which is a sad transition 
from the blooming gardens below, — the cemetery 
in which the dead of the poorer classes are de- 
posited. Here are pits in which the uncoffined 
bodies are piled, one upon another, and over each 
is strewn a little lime and earth, until the surface 
is nearly reached, when all is made level over it, 
and another pit is dug, to be in the same manner 
filled. I have been informed that bodies are 
sometimes brought to the ground in coffins in 
which the bottom is arranged on hinges so as 
to drop its occupant into the pit. When the 
bodies come with clothing on, it is said to be 
the custom to first mutilate the garments and 



108 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

render them useless, so that they may not be 
stolen. 

In another cemeteiy, located near the Gulf 
shore, are deposited the bodies of those who have 
not died in the faith of priestcraft, and are not 
privileged to repose in holy ground. Here the 
space for burial is so limited that the defunct 
have even but a temporary occupancy of their 




CUBAN TOMBS. 

charnel-house, and a new incumbent cannot be 
deposited without turning out previous occupants. 
As a consequence, therefore, the ground is strewn 
with the bleaching relics of mortalit}^, and in one 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 109 

corner is a heap, mostly of skulls, several yards 
high. 

I visited another cemetery, or rather a great 
mausoleum, where the bodies of those whose faith 
and pockets are both deep, are deposited. It con- 
sists of courses of masonry, above ground, in 
which are left caverns like baker's ovens or large 
pigeon-holes, each of sufficient size to hold two or 
three coffins. When a body is placed in one of 
them, the end is sealed up with a slab on which 
is inscribed the name of the deceased. When I 
saw these mural abodes of the dead, the walls 
were heated under the burning sun, and I thought 
of the thousand or more dead bodies within, 
undergoing a process little short of cremation. 

The most popular amusements in this country 
are those which depend for their interest on the 
sufferings inflicted on animals. The most uni- 
versal amusement of this character, prevailing 
throughout the small towns of the interior as well 
as in the cities, is cockfighting, evidence of which, 
in the raising and trading in game-cocks, is con- 
tinually observed. They are seen in all regions, 
10 



110 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

carried about in a kind of cage or basket woven 
from the palm-leaf, so constructed that the heads 
and necks of the chickens project through an 
opening in the top. There is a wretched practice 
of plucking out the feathers from their bodies, 
excepting the wings and tail, inducing, of course, 
suffering in the operation, and a painful exposure 
of the tender skin. I suppose that the battles 
are purposely fought in this nude state to add to 
the severity of wounds, and, therefore, to the 
enjoyment of the spectators. 

The amusement which would in these times 
disgrace even the most barbaric horde, and which 
lacks every vestige of manliness in sport, is the 
so-called bull-fight. It is not entitled to the name 
of a fight, which would imply a combat involving 
two sides more or less matched, but is the tortur- 
ing of a bull into frenzy, to escape or to wound 
aged, dilapidated, and enfeebled horses, who are 
blindfolded so that they cannot avoid receiving 
injury. 

I have not witnessed this amusement of tortur- 
ing a bull and mangling horses, but know its 



DTARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. Ill 

horrors from those who have lately been present 
at it. The bull is irritated by smarting wounds 
before he is brought into the arena, and if not 
infuriated enough, his skin is pricked with barbed 
darts that remain in the flesh. Should his strug- 
gles not be sufficiently exciting to the crowd, 
burning fuses are added to the darts. He is also 
wounded by the spear of the rider who is mounted 
on the miserable horse. The horse is at length 



LANCER* 

disabled by the horns of the bull, or he may be 
killed outright. I have been informed, that when 
the abdomen of the horse happens to be ripped 
open so that the bowels protrude and trail in the 
dust, the rent is roughly sewed up, and the poor 



112 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

beast is spurred on to endure still greater suf- 
fering. 

To the credit of humanity be it told, this hor- 
rible show is declining, and that it is now merely 
attended by the lower classes of the community, 
and that women are not usually present ; but the 
continued national recognition of the abomina- 
tion is evinced by a bull-fight having been gotten 
up by the authorities to entertain the Russian 
Prince at his recent visit. It is also proper here 
to state that these authorities are native Span- 
iards, and not Cubans. 

This " Ever Faithful Isle" will remain faithful 
just so long as the present powerful military 
government can continue its authority. The 
people are held in subjection by a large Spanish 
army, and by a perfect military system which is 
spread over the island. 

The entire governing power is in the hands of 
the Spaniards, the native Cubans being excluded 
from military appointments or offices under the 
government. 

The people are ready and anxious for relief 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 113 

from the tyranny of Spain ; but there seems to be 
now but little hope for, and apparently no gen- 
eral sympathy with the rebellion, which has been 
in existence for several years at the eastern end 
of the island, and which does not, and probably 
has never acted as an organized force. The 
hatred of the Cubans against their Spanish rulers 
is extreme ; however subdued ma}^ be its appear- 
ance under military subjection, I know from in- 
timate communication with the people its heart- 
felt intensity. 

Soldiers are almost ever in sight in all local- 
ities, city and rural, and the Cubans are severely 
taxed for the support of this proportionately 
great standing army. 

The hope for relief of the Cubans must, I 
think, come from liberal and enlightened nations 
abroad, and they will, at the proper time, patriot- 
ically sacrifice life and property in a hopeful 
effort for release. Their course is to be com- 
mended to all friends of liberality and human 
progress. 

Monday, April 8th. — As a winter resort for 
10* 



114 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

invalids of a certain class, the merits of Cuba 
have long been recognized, and with the increase 
of domestic comforts for health and pleasure- 
seekers, and the improvement of facilities for 
traveling, the time may soon come when the 
flight of valetudinarians to escape the severity of 
northern winters will be generally to the genial 
climate of this island. The climate is probably 
more faultless than that of any locality at an 
equal distance from northern homes, for the 
avoidance of coldness and rapid transitions of 
temperature, particularly if proper locations on 
the island be selected. 

The south coast of Cuba has the advantage of 
being protected by the mountain ranges from the 
north winds, which occasionally prevail for a day 
or two at a time, and are the cause of the only 
marked depressions of temperature. Besides the 
rural localities on that coast, the best resort, and 
that which is most frequented by invalids, is the 
city of Trinidad. Other cities of the south of 
Cuba are not so well located as to the hygienic 
influences in and about them, and they are sub- 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 115 

ject to malarial taints, to which foreigners are 
very susceptible, and even yellow fever, during 
some winters, continues to prevail in them to a 
limited extent. 

Locations on the north coast, or its vicinity, 
are too much under the influence of changes pro- 
duced by north winds, for the secure residence of 
impressible invalids. 

From observation of the hygienic conditions of 
Cuban cities in general, I would, however, advise 
invalids to avoid them all, and to resort for per- 
manency of stay, to the villages or rural localities 
of the interior. Havana has, far beyond other 
cities of Cuba, its comforts, conveniences, social 
attractions, and amusements, for the advantage 
of residence for invalids ; but the temperature, 
while it is liable to sudden northern influences, is 
apt to be too high for comfort during most of the 
time, and the city is scarcely ever absolutely free 
from cases of yellow fever. The causes of yellow 
fever seem to exist always in the vicinity of the 
harbor, and during my short stay, I know that 
there have been five cases of this terrible disease 



116 DIARY OP A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

in one popular hotel in such proximity ; and it 
should be borne in mind that foreigners, as in 
the above instances, are usually the victims. 

The harbors on which the largest Cuban cities 
are located are almost landlocked, tideless basins, 
without a current washing through them ; and as 
they receive the entire surface drainage and 
sewage, the waters become foul and liable to 
engender pestilence. 

These unfavorable conditions pertain especially 
to the harbor of Havana, the water of which is so 
foul that, as a naval officer informed me, even the 
washing of the decks of vessels with it is avoided, 
and that when an anchor is raised from the bot- 
tom the adherent mud has a most intolerable and 
sickening stench. A plan has been projected for 
producing a current through the harbor by cut- 
ting a canal from its upper extremity across the 
narrow strip intervening between it and the shore 
of the Gulf of Mexico. Should the project be 
successfully" accomplished, it will undoubtedly 
have a favorable influence on the salubrity of the 
city 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 117 

Invalids frequently resort to certain baths and 
mineral springs in Cuba, which have a traditional, 
but, I think, a dubious reputation, as specific in 
certain diseases ; and the climate of the Isle of 
Pines, which is about fifty miles south from 
this island, is claimed to be remarkably bland 
and free from vicissitudes, and patients with 
bronchial affections are said to be well suited 
by it. 

The want of good accommodations and the 
subjection to unavoidable annoyances are the 
drawbacks to such places. The diet that is 
offered may not be endurable to the fastidious 
invalid, hard beds may not permit his repose, 
and fleas and mosquitoes may be the climax of 
his miseries. 

The cold, earnest North is the land of labor, 
and this is the land of idleness and ease. That 
Cuba has produced nought of value in literature, 
and added nothing to science, may be attributed 
to climatic influences. All who come here from 
the stimulating atmosphere of the hard-working 
North soon yield to a sense of ease and tranquillity 



118 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

as " the Sooth's soft languor o'er their senses 
steals." 

It is the climate for the overworked and- the 
care-worn ; for the many in whom the nervous 
system is strung to morbid tension until its vibra- 
tions are painful ; for all who, weary with the 
battle of life, would seek for rest from the stim- 
ulus of their own excitability. It is the place for 
an idle, dreamy existence, and labor here is only 
done under dire necessit}^, or by an inferior race 
under compulsion of the lash. 

To breakfast at eleven in the morning and then 
to retire for a nap would, in the North, give the 
idea of the intensity of laziness; yet such is the 
general custom, and Northern sojourners take 
very kindly to the easy fashion. My own per- 
sonal experience is that the lazy ways of the 
country are easily adopted and followed. It is 
easy to have the drowsiness of the night shaken 
off by a cup of hot coffee brought to you as you 
still recline at sunrise. It is agreeable afterwards 
to ride on a horse whose movement is so easy 
that it cannot jolt the sentiment out of yon, or 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 121 

break the thread of your reverie. Such a ricle, 
not over the stale conventionality of traveled 
roads, but through untrodden, ever-varying ways, 
amidst scenery made up of objects new and in- 
teresting, while the air is still cool and fresh, is 
all the exertion that the morning requires. Then 
follow the hours of idleness and repose, while the 
sun's rays are burning and almost vertical. The 
dinner-hour comes as the day declines, and the 
after hours may be again pleasantly spent in out- 
door exercise or amusement. In this easy man- 
ner time passes away, until the visitor is reluc- 
tantly compelled to think of his interests in the 
severe and earnest North, and begins his prepara- 
tion for turning away from this land of listless- 
ness and ease. 

Mental activity is as little prevalent among the 
Cubans as is physical. Books are but little seen 
in the houses of even the higher class, and I have 
never detected any one in the act of reading. 
The people, however, are generally bright and in- 
telligent, and they have a suavity of manner and 

courteous deportment towards each other which 
11 



122 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

give, even among the humblest, an air of culture 
and refinement above their actual intellectual 
attainments. 

The lives of Cuban ladies must be, according 
to our Northern ideas, dull and wearisome from 
ennui and restraint. In the cities, custom pre- 
vents their going out unattended, walking seems 
to be considered vulgar, and their daytime is 
spent in talking, dozing, and rocking, followed 
perhaps by a languid evening ride in the volante. 

But nry Cuban days are at an end. Home 
thoughts steal in even while I am looking on 
scenes of interest, and in the burning heat of this 
city I feel that a cool draft of northern air would 
be refreshing. In my stroll in the streets last 
evening, a band of wandering minstrels played 
the air of " Home, sweet home," and I was unu- 
sually impressible to that ever-impressive melody. 
The approach of our old friend, the steamship 
"Juniata," was announced by signals on the 
Morro Castle this morning, and she is now 
moored in the harbor, ready for her northward 
course. The meeting with her good commander 



DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 123 

seemed a harbinger of home. How welcome was 
the sight of his manty face, glowing warmly with 
good nature like a tropical sunrise, and in the 
genial grasp of his hand I felt that a true sailor 
was spliced fast to me. 

Wednesday, April 1 Oth. — The time has come at 
last to turn away our faces from this beautiful 
land, and we now see the sun set for the last time 
over the purple hills of Cuba, as the vessel heads 
northward — homeward bound ! What a radiant 
and glowing tropical sunset scene of sky, sea, 
and land is spread before us as ends with the day 
our real visions of the "isle of undying verdure!" 
A glittering pathway leads over the sea towards 
the western horizon, and clouds, land, and water 
are fused in the red and golden tints of parting- 
sunlight. 



" The golden sea its mirror spreads 
Beneath the golden skies, 

And but a narrow strip between 
Of land and shadow lies. 



124 DIARY OF A SPRING HOLIDAY IN CUBA. 

" The sea is but another sky, 

The sky a sea as well, 
And which is earth and which the heavens, 

The eye can scarcely tell. 

'JlSo when for us life's evening hour 

Soft fading shall descend, 
May glory, born of earth and heaven, 

The earth and heavens blend." 



THE END. 



1 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

■mum 

015 819 186 6 Q 



